News

Credit reporting agency Equifax said that hackers were able to access the personal information of 143 million U.S. consumers, which includes names, Social Security numbers, birth dates, addresses and, in some instances, driver's license numbers. This is approximately 44 percent of the total U.S. population of 323 million.

A recent report from PwC has found that nearly one-third of all employees are distracted by personal financial issues while at work, with almost half of them spending three hours or more each week handling personal finances at work.

John Cryan, the CEO of Deutsche Bank, didn't mince words at a recent Frankfurt conference, saying that a big number of his staff will be replaced with machines over the coming years, and called out accountants in particular as a likely casualty of this shift.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has filed a complaint against a NJ-based tax preparer and investment adviser for stealing more than $1 million from clients in order to support his gambling habit and other personal expenses.

SEC Chair Jay Clayton said that cybersecurity will be one of his top enforcement issues this year, believing that regulators are not doing enough to protect investors, particularly smaller ones, from systemic and substantial risks.

Bill Nye, popularly known as a science guy, has filed a lawsuit against Disney, which said he owed the company almost $500,000 due to an overpayment error. Nye, suspicious of the financial statements, said this dispute is the result of accounting shenanigans that have denied him millions of dollars in profits from his hit TV show.

With so many regulators out there, it can be tough to keep track of all the decisions being made. This is the NYSSCPA’s regular series that collects relevant regulatory announcements from the past week, and puts them in one place to help you stay on top of the issues.

The Treasury Inspector Generation for Tax Administration (TIGTA) said that the IRS's Computer Security Incident Response Center generally does a good job in detecting, preventing, reporting and responding to cyber attacks, but could use some improvement in case work, staff training and implementing its Incident Response Plan.

The FASB's new revenue recognition standard, set to go into effect at the end of the year, will collide with new value-based Medicaid reimbursement rules, potentially creating new avenues for healthcare fraud.

Beleaguered bank Wells Fargo, still reeling from a series of embarrassing scandals, announced that the one that started it all―the creation of millions of fake accounts that charged fees to their customers― is much bigger than originally thought.

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB), in a recent staff inspection brief, said it will be focusing particularly on recurring audit deficiencies, areas affected by economic factors like Brexit or high M&A activity, audit parts that were particularly judgement-heavy, the new Form AP reporting requirements, new accounting standards, multinational audits, information technology, and firm system quality control.

A recent study conducted by the National Bureau of Economic Research has found that the average markup, across all sectors of the economy, has grown from 18 percent in 1950 to 67 percent today, which the paper's authors attribute to a tipping power balance that favors employers over employees.

Startup founders Penelope Gazin and Kate Dwyer, who made an artist's platform called Witchsy, said their company had a lot of trouble getting their emails answered promptly and free of condescension―that is until they added a made up male co-founder named Keith Mann.

With so many regulators out there, it can be tough to keep track of all the decisions being made. This is the NYSSCPA’s regular series that collects relevant regulatory announcements from the past week, and puts them in one place to help you stay on top of the issues.

In January 2018, the NYSSCPA Board of Directors will submit the names of three individuals to the AICPA’s Nominations Committee, which nominates members for election to the AICPA Council. Those nominees, once duly elected, will each serve three-year terms beginning October 2018 on the 265-person governing council. In addition, one person will be designated by the Society to serve a one-year term as its representative to the council, also beginning October 2018. If you or a colleague you know is interested in serving on the AICPA Council, please e-mail Jan Herringer, the Society’s president-elect and chair of the Board’s Selections Subcommittee.

A recent study of 9.8 million sales transactions from 151 U.S. companies over nine consecutive quarters from 2014 to 2016 has found that last-minute rushes to meet sales figures actually costs companies more than initial numbers would imply.